London 29 May 2006 Drones, reedy and thin, waft out in layers of rolling minimal bliss. They increase dutifully in number and density until the Empire is suffused with them, Alexander Tucker switching pedals and setting up loops of harmonic intensity, nodding like a monk at prayer into his devotional music. The huge bass tone which emanates from his acoustic guitar is a wonder to behold, though from […]
The Garage, London 18th May 2006 In a Garage not exactly rammed to gills for a sold-out gig, Lightning Bolt – positioned as ever in a corner on the floor instead of taking to the stage – open their set with a looped low fidelity rhythm which soon wavers into loudness sliced by stabs of tuning-up sounds. An emergent chug struggles foal-like into unco-ordinated yet groovesome earshot, and […]
The Spitz, London 21st April 2006 Akron/Family are not from Ohio, nor are they apparently related to each other. They are also sometimes Michael Gira‘s band Angels Of Light. Tonight at The Spitz they might be themselves, though along the way they play up a storm of other identities, genres and musical forms. The band are also somewhat hirsute, though not at this stage in their UK tour […]
Sunrise Label: Ektro Format: CD Alotus Label: Klangbad Format: CD Operating at the junction between hard rocking metal and psychedelic space exploration groove melodramas, Circle‘s sound is certainly enveloping in a total manner with nods to the Kosmische sounds seeping across the other side of the Baltic Sea to their native Finland for the last three decades or so as well as the leather-clad tomfoolery of Judas Priestand the single-minded starship thrum of Hawkwind. Alotus opens and closes […]
The Others, London 12th November 2005 Saturday night and The Others is jam-packed- what was a freezing, damp, stone-walled building scant minutes earlier has become a furnace, as the great and the good of Stoke Newington come together to celebrate the launch of the debut single from local heroes Morning Bride. As well as the paying punters, also helping them celebrate are the magnificent Owls, whose blend of […]
Label: Threshold House Format: CD The last Coil album proper, The Ape Of Naples marks a tragic end point, a conclusion to one of the more remarkable groups to grace the annals of electronic and deviant music. Completed under the direction of his longtime collaborator Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson and bringing together tracks recorded in many locations over the last decade or more, this album marks the last such […]
Label: FatCat Format: 2LP,CD Sometimes there are groups who are so off the wall that it’s a bit of a trip just hearing them for the first time. With Animal Collective, it’s fair to say that their oddness continues for the second, third and pretty much every listen, and Feels is one of their strangest and most compelling releases to date. Fortunately, it’s also one which is so […]
Label: Mayan Format: CD So Bush got in again. Fuck. Well, look on the bright side, at least it means Al Jourgensen still has something to be angry about. Small comfort I know, but you take this shit where you can find it, I guess. I mean, a better world would obviously be great to live in, but I’m not sure my mind could cope with the ontological dissonance that would come with […]
Label: Probe Plus Format: CD And they’re back. Nigel Blackwell‘s lads are here to give anyone, and anything, they think worthy a damn good kicking. And they’ll do it catchily too, and with some great jokes. Quite some expectation, and opener “Restless Legs”, while funny, seems remarkable targetless. After this breezy opening, though, we get one of the two most acerbic tracks on the album, “CORGI Registered Friends”, […]
Label: Skull Disco Format: 12″ The debut release from the Skull Disco label, this double A side 12″ shows there’s lots of promise lurking between the drumming and dancing skeletons which are sure to become a sought after signature design characteristic of the label. Neither track references dub as a chilled out dope-nodding groove, instead distancing the bass and drum sounds, such as they are, from the body […]
The Spitz, London 18th July 2005 A balmy, dirty London night finds me climbing the spiral at The Spitz to see Morning Bride solely for this review, or souly for my own pleasure. There is no way that humans can survive long in this heat, or so I imagine. It’s raining outside, a slow tease rain that isn’t going to refresh so much as make sure my fellow […]
Label: Planet Mu Format: 2CD,2LP London duo Vex’d are to be found operating at the murky point where dubstep meets bleep, where grimey shivers fuss and bass drops rumble. The sounds collected on Degenerate take the momentum of dark drum’n’bass into yet edgier territory; the kind of places Witchman was hinting at years back, but with a particular atmosphere which is yet more gloomy — if that’s possible […]
Label: C.I.P Format: CD First there was Sand, whose 1974 album Golem was a lost masterpiece of Kosmische psychedelia. The album was re-released and annotated by David Tibet and Steven Stapleton along with other unreleased material from various related projects in 1996 as the Ultrasonic Seraphim double CD set on their combined United Durtro imprint, and with the dissolution of World Serpent Distribution is now sadly unavailable once […]
ULU, London 26 May 2005 Okay, here’s the usual disclaimer. I’m not going to be objective. In the slightest. Michael Gira‘s been a hero of mine for many years now, and this was the first time I got to see him live. So forgive me if I don’t give it the whole fair and balanced thing in the following review. You’ve got to hand it to Akron/Family. Considering they […]
Label: Ad Noiseam Format: 12″ Forsaking his love of distended gabba-ragga-breakcore noise for something not entirely unrelated, Jason Kohnen has applied his carefully-crafted breaks and furious percussive cut-up skills to grindcore metal – and what a rushing mashup the result is too. Big riffs meet monster bass and hyperspeed rhythms, twisting an already evil-sounding form into new shapes of enthusiastically demented chaos. Track titles like “Bloody Cenotaph” hint […]
Label: Planet Mu Format: 12″ The Lesser Spotted Burberry EP could as easily be a paean as a pisstake, but there’s no doubting the fervour of Henry Collins‘ approach to beat-mangling. “Ellesse Warrior” swoons from driving mashup to celebratory breakcore with a dizzying sense of humour in the application of a hint of ragga and a good dose of manic intensity. Peppered with progressively more and more dissolute […]
Label: Planet Mu Format: CD Bringing together a selection of 12″ tracks and a scattering of remixes by DJ Hellfish, One Man Sonic Attack Force showcases his penchant for mashing together Hardcore Techno and Gabba with HipHop and making the results bleed. “U Don’t Quit”, with its rumbunctious MC extolling the vitues of party-busting breaks demonstrates just how much better the uptempo beats of chart-friendly acts like … […]
Label: Planet Mu Format: CD,2LP If anything is going to show the diversity and breadth of Aaron Funk‘s talent, Rossz Csillag Alatt Született should. Taking a breather between bouts of full-tilt Breakcore insanity for a little lighter – but not lightweight – electrical string-led conceptualising, this album is nothing less than a meditation on what it would be like to be a pigeon living atop the Királyi Palota […]